Wharton Global Forum – Rethinking the AI Stack: Data, Agentic AI, and Organizational Design

At the 2025 Wharton Global Forum in San Francisco, host Kartik Hosanagar moderates a powerhouse panel on the future of AI. Leaders from Microsoft, T. Rowe Price, GrowthCurve Capital, NewFront, and HSG (formerly Sequoia China) share their perspectives on where AI is headed, what it means for business, and how organizations can prepare.

From bold claims about AGI arriving in just a few years, to the “Gen AI paradox” (adoption without clear ROI), to how products and teams must be reimagined in an AI-first world, this wide-ranging discussion dives into the questions every business leader is asking:

- Is AGI hype or reality?

- Why aren’t we seeing productivity gains yet?

- What does it mean to build thin products, thick models?

- How should startups and incumbents partner in the AI era?

- What happens when humans, agents, and organizations collide?

Speakers:

Prof. Kartik Hosanagar, Faculty Co-Director of Wharton Human-AI Research

Aparna Chennapragada, Chief Product Officer at Microsoft

Sajjad Jaffer (WG’01), Founding Partner, GrowthCurve Capital

Xing Liu (WG’04), Senior Partner, HSG (HongShan Capital Group)

Ramon Richards (WG’08), Chief Technology Officer, T. Rowe Price

Lin Yuan (WG’22), Chief AI Officer and Executive Vice President of Engineering, Newfront

0:00 - Introduction

3:05 – Beyond AGI: Intelligence Overhang and the Infrastructure Gap

9:32 – ROI, Pattern Matching, and What Makes AI Valuable Today

15:45 – From Products to Systems: Rethinking Software in a Model-First World

23:28 – Data as Differentiator: Memory, Moats, and Domain-Specific AI

30:52 – Organizational Shifts: Data Culture, Change Management, and the New Stack

36:18 – One-Person Unicorns, Global Teams, and Agent Collaboration

39:50 – Competing in the Age of Giants: How Startups Can Win

43:04 – Regional Dynamics: Global Networks and the Open-Source Moment

46:05 – The Talent Revolution: Skills That Will Define the Next Decade

50:46 – Interoperability and the Cost of Lock-In

53:20 – Value, Risk, and Society: Who Gains, Who Loses?

57:48 – Closing Remarks & Conclusion

Learn more: https://ai.wharton.upenn.edu/creative-intelligence/

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/39rSsrrRwoYACKvOr19aDY

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/creative-intelligence/id1813418349

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